DELANO, MN - Several tenants have already moved into the former Delano Dodge building on Highway 12, with several more on the way.

So far, the Delano Eye Clinic and Pro Rehab have moved in to the renovated building, with Pizza Hut and Crow River Dental soon to follow.

“I know they’re working furiously,” said Dr. Kristina Pupp of the Delano Eye Clinic, noting that the same people are working on construction of all the offices, which helps cut down the costs.

The building is 16,800 square feet and remodeling work has been taking place since approval of the plans was given by the Delano City Council in June.

The Delano Eye Clinic moved in Nov. 1, with Pro Rehab following several days later. Both businesses had been located in the Delano Crossings area.

Crow River Dental

Dr. Greg Glavan has lived in Delano since 1997, and has been practicing in Howard Lake since 1994.

He called it a “marital compromise” that originally led him and his wife, Mary, to Delano, noting he had a 17-mile commute to Howard Lake, while she had a longer one to Bloomington.

“Now my wife works from home and I’m the only one with the commute,” Glavan said with a laugh.

Glavan grew up in White Bear Lake, has ties to the Iron Range, where his father is originally from, and said he still has a lot of family on the Range. His family ties to the Range also have him serving currently as president of the Iron Range Historical Society.

“My dad didn’t want to work in the mines the way his father did,” Glavan said. “He ended up going to the University of Wisconsin, primarily because he wanted to get away from all that, and he got his degree in chemical engineering.”

His father began working for General Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, OH, on a top-secret defense project. This was during the era of the Korean War, and Glavan said his father worked on the development of jet aircraft tires.

Glavan was born in Akron, and his father took a job with 3M, which led the young family back to Minnesota.

After high school, Glavan went to the University of Minnesota, spending five years on his undergraduate degree, obtaining a major in biochemistry and a minor in chemistry.

He ended up following his father’s footsteps, working at 3M for a while in product development. He was also a consultant for 3M dental products, which he said he enjoyed because it allowed him time in a lab.

Glavan also attended dental school, and said he obtained degrees in biochemistry and chemistry to fall back on in case he wasn’t accepted into dental school.

“At the time, it was really pretty competitive,” Glavan said. “It’s not so competitive anymore. It’s not a career of choice for a lot of people now, and that’s one of the reasons we have a shortage of dentists in the state.”

He spent just under five years in dental school, graduated, and spent his first two years out of college in St. Peter. He then worked for Park Dental for two years, which is where he met Mary. Glavan then began practicing in Howard Lake.

He said he has a lot of patients from Delano who travel to Howard Lake to see him, and said the time felt right to open an office in Delano.

He said the date his office will be open is still a “moving target,” and said he is shooting for the second week in January. Construction, painting, and flooring is still taking place in his office.

“We’ll have someone taking calls the last part of December,” Glavan said. His practice will include himself, an office manager, an assistant, a hygienist, and also a massage therapist down the road.

“That can help patients de-stress before or after appointments,” Glavan said. The office will feature three exam rooms, a private consultation room, X-ray room, staff lounge, lab/steralization room, hygiene room, and laundry room.

He said his fee schedule will be very similar to his present location, and said, during these economic times, he wants to keep things affordable. He said the industry has changed since the market crash in 2008, noting now there is more problem-focused care instead of preventative care.

He said a good demographic number is one dentist per 1,500 people.

Glavan and his wife, Mary, have two daughters. Jenifer DeGraw works for the Department of Justice, based in the Phoenix office. Jesica Glavan is a loan closing specialist with Bank of America in Chandler, AZ.

Glavan is involved with the church council of St. Mary of Czestochowa and also is a volunteer with Northern Lighter Pyrotechnics, which has done the fireworks show at the Delano Fourth of July Celebration for a number of years.

Pizza Hut

In late December, Pizza Hut will unveil a new restaurant in Delano that brings “a fresh, modern, and more compact design to Pizza Hut/WingStreet,” according to a recent press release.

The new design, which caters to carry-out and delivery orders, is smaller in size compared to existing Pizza Hut restaurants.

“The new Northfield Pizza Hut is the sixth Minnesota location (other locations in Champlin, Farmington, Prior Lake, Northfield, and St. Michael) we have opened with this brand new design,” said Fred Burmer, vice president of operations at Border Foods Companies. “We’re thrilled to open our doors and start serving the Delano community all of their favorites from Pizza Hut and WingStreet.”

Border Foods currently own more than 160 locations throughout Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, with the majority of these restaurant locations based in the Twin Cities.

“We take immense pride in our flexibility and agility in responding to the ever-changing needs of our consumers,” Burmer said. “Guests are our first priority and we consistently strive to exceed their expectations. We will continue to build upon this tradition of excellence.”

Pizza Hut delivers more pizza, pasta, and wings than any other restaurant, according to the press release. The only pizza company to be named a top 10 franchise in 2009 by Entrepreneur Magazine, Pizza Hut began 50 years ago in Wichita, KS, and today operates more than 10,000 restaurants in many countries.

WingStreet, the world’s largest delivery wing concept, is found in Pizza Hut restaurants. There are more than 1,600 WingStreet locations in the United States, Austrailia, and Canada.

A job fair took place Thursday at the Delano location, with on-site interviews for drivers and managers taking place.

For more information, visit www.cravingstogo.com or www.wingstreet.com.

Additional tenants

Pupp said there has been a “ton of positive feedback” on the idea of a coffee shop also coming into the complex, but said a lease agreement has not yet been finalized for this.

A facility-wide open house likely will take place this spring or summer, she added.

Pupp said her business has hosted its annual children’s carnival, and said this may be expanded to include other businesses in the facility.

The building itself will not be expanded, but an outdoor dining area at the northeast corner of the building will be added, as will a drive-through lane on the east side of the building.

Parking will be on the east half of the site, and future development could take place on the western side of the site.

In the spring, she said, exterior improvements such as canopies on windows and landscaping will also take place.